Monkey Knife Fight
Monkey Knife Fight was a North American daily fantasy sports platform focused on player-specific contests across major professional sports and esports.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Monkey Knife Fight was a daily fantasy sports platform founded in 2018 by Bill Asher. The company positioned itself as a simpler, more contest-driven alternative to traditional season-long fantasy sports and to roster-building daily fantasy products. Rather than requiring users to assemble full fantasy teams, its games generally asked players to make predictions about individual athletes, statistical thresholds, or short-form matchups. Users entered contests through the platform and could win money when their selections met the applicable results criteria. The service covered a broad range of professional and collegiate-adjacent sports interests through contests involving the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, golf, soccer, WNBA, NASCAR, and esports. Its best-known format was “More or Less,” in which a user predicted whether a particular player would exceed or fall below a projected statistic. Other formats included “Rapid Fire,” based on winners in paired categories; “Touchdown Dance,” which involved selecting players to exceed a chosen touchdown target; and “Stat Shootout,” in which users selected players or teams expected to accumulate the highest amount of a specified statistic. Monkey Knife Fight grew rapidly after launch and became one of the larger daily fantasy operators in North America. Reference material describes it as the continent’s third-largest daily fantasy sports company, behind FanDuel and DraftKings. Its market reach eventually extended to 37 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Canada, subject to the applicable legal and regulatory conditions in each jurisdiction. The brand also pursued extensive sports-industry partnerships. These included a minority investment and marketing relationship involving the NFL Players Association, team partnerships with MLB clubs such as the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, and Texas Rangers, and NFL relationships with the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Los Angeles Chargers. Through an agreement with AEG, it was also associated with the Los Angeles Kings, LA Galaxy, and Ontario Reign. The company additionally sponsored PGA golfer Charley Hoffman. In September 2020, Monkey Knife Fight acquired rival fantasy sports operator FantasyDraft. The transaction brought FantasyDraft’s assets and user base into Monkey Knife Fight, strengthening the platform’s competitive position and customer reach. In March 2021, Bally’s Corporation acquired Monkey Knife Fight in a stock transaction valued at up to $90 million. The acquisition formed part of Bally’s broader effort to expand its digital gaming and sports-betting ecosystem. The brand received several industry recognitions during its independent growth period. SponsorUnited ranked it the sixth-most-searched sports and entertainment brand in 2020. EGR named it Fantasy Sports Operator of the Year in 2020, and it was a finalist in the Fantasy Sports Operator of the Year category at the 2019 American Gambling Awards. The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association recognized it with Rookie of the Year and Disruptor of the Year awards in 2019. Monkey Knife Fight ultimately ceased operations on February 28, 2023. The shutdown followed its acquisition by Bally’s and was attributed in the cited reference material to post-acquisition mismanagement. The operating website and the branded fantasy contests therefore no longer represent an active daily fantasy sports service.
History
Monkey Knife Fight emerged in 2018 as a daily fantasy sports company founded by Bill Asher. Its core proposition was to make fantasy play more direct and accessible by centering contests on individual-player projections and concise prediction tasks. This differentiated it from traditional fantasy formats, where participants typically construct and manage complete rosters over a day, week, or season. The platform’s contests asked users to forecast whether players would clear statistical lines, win paired comparisons, or reach defined performance totals. The company expanded rapidly across a variety of sports. Its available contest categories included the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, golf, soccer, WNBA, NASCAR, and esports. “More or Less” became its signature format: users assessed whether an athlete’s actual performance would be above or below a stated projection. “Rapid Fire,” “Touchdown Dance,” and “Stat Shootout” provided additional approaches to short-form fantasy participation. This product design helped Monkey Knife Fight appeal to users who wanted quick, event-based games without the complexity of building conventional fantasy lineups. As the company grew, it developed a substantial commercial and marketing network in professional sports. The NFL Players Association held a minority stake and maintained a marketing agreement with the company. Monkey Knife Fight also established relationships with six MLB teams: the Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, and Texas Rangers. Its NFL partnerships included the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Los Angeles Chargers. A deal with AEG connected the brand with the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL, LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer, and Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. The company also sponsored PGA golfer Charley Hoffman. The platform reportedly operated in 37 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and Canada. Its growth placed it behind FanDuel and DraftKings but ahead of many smaller fantasy operators, and reference material identifies it as the third-largest daily fantasy sports company in North America. Industry recognition followed. In 2019, the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association named Monkey Knife Fight Rookie of the Year and Disruptor of the Year. The company was also a finalist for Fantasy Sports Operator of the Year at the 2019 American Gambling Awards. In 2020, SponsorUnited ranked it sixth among the most-searched brands in sports and entertainment, while EGR named it Fantasy Sports Operator of the Year. A major expansion occurred in September 2020, when Monkey Knife Fight acquired FantasyDraft. The deal transferred FantasyDraft’s assets and entire user base to Monkey Knife Fight, increasing its customer base and consolidating two competing fantasy operations. The next year brought a change in ownership. In March 2021, Bally’s Corporation acquired Monkey Knife Fight in a stock transaction valued at up to $90 million. Bally’s sought to build a broader digital gaming and sports ecosystem, and the acquisition gave it an established daily fantasy sports brand, technology, users, and sports relationships. The integration did not produce a lasting operating business. Monkey Knife Fight shut down all operations on February 28, 2023. The available reference material characterizes the closure as resulting from post-acquisition mismanagement by Bally’s. The shutdown ended the brand’s fantasy contests and left Monkey Knife Fight as a defunct daily fantasy sports platform rather than an active consumer service.
- 2023
Operations end
[1]Monkey Knife Fight shut down all operations on February 28, 2023.
- 2021
Acquisition by Bally's Corporation
[1]Bally’s Corporation acquired Monkey Knife Fight for up to $90 million in stock.
- 2020
FantasyDraft acquisition
[1]Monkey Knife Fight acquired FantasyDraft and absorbed its assets and user base.
- 2020
Further industry recognition
[1]SponsorUnited ranked Monkey Knife Fight sixth among the most-searched sports and entertainment brands, and EGR named it Fantasy Sports Operator of the Year.
- 2019
Fantasy sports industry recognition
[1]The company received the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association’s Rookie of the Year and Disruptor of the Year awards and became a finalist for Fantasy Sports Operator of the Year at the American Gambling Awards.
- 2018
Monkey Knife Fight is founded
[1]Bill Asher founded Monkey Knife Fight as a daily fantasy sports platform focused on player-specific contests.
Products and positioning
A simplified, player-focused daily fantasy sports platform offering short-form prediction contests rather than primarily roster-building fantasy games.
Player-projection fantasy contest
More or Less
Monkey Knife Fight’s best-known contest format asked users to predict whether a selected player would perform above or below a stated statistical projection. The format reduced fantasy participation to a series of focused athlete-performance judgments rather than requiring a complete fantasy roster.
Matchup prediction contest
Rapid Fire
Rapid Fire was a short-form contest in which participants selected winners across two matchup categories. It formed part of Monkey Knife Fight’s broader effort to offer fast, straightforward sports predictions.
Football performance contest
Touchdown Dance
Touchdown Dance centered on football scoring performance. Users selected players expected to exceed a chosen total-touchdown target, creating a compact contest built around a recognizable NFL statistic.
Statistical accumulation contest
Stat Shootout
Stat Shootout allowed users to select a group of players or teams expected to accumulate the largest amount of a chosen statistic. It extended the platform’s player-focused model into comparative, event-based statistical contests.
Brand decisions
2021
Acquisition by Bally's CorporationM&ABackground
Bally’s Corporation was expanding its digital gaming and sports-related businesses and acquired Monkey Knife Fight as an established daily fantasy sports platform.
Action taken
Bally’s acquired Monkey Knife Fight in a stock transaction valued at up to $90 million.
Aftermath
Monkey Knife Fight operated under Bally’s ownership until ending all operations in February 2023.
Maximum stated transaction value. Up to $90 million in stock (March 2021)
2020
Acquisition of FantasyDraftM&ABackground
Monkey Knife Fight was competing in a growing daily fantasy sports market and sought to expand its platform and customer base.
Action taken
The company acquired FantasyDraft and absorbed its assets and entire user base.
Aftermath
The transaction strengthened Monkey Knife Fight’s scale before its subsequent acquisition by Bally’s Corporation.
Recent events
Reported
Monkey Knife Fight partners with the Texas Rangers[2]
Monkey Knife Fight announced a partnership with the Texas Rangers focused on COVID-19 relief in Dallas-Fort Worth. Monkey Knife Fight said it would donate at least $50,000 to the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, with additional donations tied to balls hitting logo cutouts at the ballpark.
Reported
Monkey Knife Fight partners with the Minnesota Twins on COVID relief[3]
Monkey Knife Fight announced a partnership with the Minnesota Twins focused on supporting people affected by COVID-19. Under the partnership, Monkey Knife Fight will donate $10,000 to the Minnesota Twins Community Fund’s Emergency Relief Fund whenever a player hits a tarp installed at the stadium.
Reported
Monkey Knife Fight signs sponsorship deal with Charley Hoffman[4]
Monkey Knife Fight announced an exclusive agreement with PGA TOUR player Charley Hoffman, making the fantasy sports platform his official partner in fantasy sports. The sponsorship includes the MKF logo on Hoffman's apparel and social media profiles.
Sources4 sources
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